Obama donates Noble prize money

US President Barack Obama on Thursday announced that he'll donate his USD 1.4 million Nobel Peace Prize award money among several charities, including USD 200,000 to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund and USD 250,000 to Fisher House, which provides housing to families of patients at military medical centers.

"These organisations do extraordinary work in the United States and abroad helping students, veterans and countless others in need," Obama said. "I'm proud to support their work," he said in a statement.

Obama said the Central Asia Institute would receive USD 100,000. The institute promotes and supports community-based education and literacy, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Institute’s co-founder, Greg Mortenson, was also a Nobel Peace Prize nominee this year, whose book, 'Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace, One School at a Time', recounts his attempt to successfully establish dozens of schools and promote girl education in rural Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Among other organizations to receive Obama’s Noble money include USD 125,000 to College Summit, which is a national non-profit organisation that partners with elementary and middle schools and school districts to strengthen college-going culture and increase college enrollment rates, so that all students graduate from high school career and college-ready, the White House said in a statement.

Process of Nomination and Selection

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is responsible for the selection of eligible candidates and the choice of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. The Committee is composed of five members appointed by the Storting (Norwegian parliament). The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway, not in Stockholm, Sweden, where the Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and the Economics Prize are awarded.


Who is eligible for the Prize

The candidates eligible for the Nobel Peace Prize are those nominated by qualified individuals. See Qualified Nominators. » No one can nominate him- or herself.
How are the Nobel Laureates selected?
nomination process

Below is a brief description of the process involved in selecting the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates.

September – Invitation letters are sent out. The Nobel Committee sends out invitation letters to individuals qualified to nominate – members of national assemblies, governments, and international courts of law; university chancellors, professors of social science, history, philosophy, law and theology; leaders of peace research institutes and institutes of foreign affairs; previous Nobel Peace Prize Laureates; board members of organizations that have received the Nobel Peace Prize; present and past members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee; and former advisers of the Norwegian Nobel Institute.

February – Deadline for submission. The Committee bases its assessment on nominations that must be postmarked no later than 1 February each year. Nominations postmarked and received after this date are included in the following year's discussions. In recent years, the Committee has received close to 200 different nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. The number of nominating letters is much higher, as many are for the same candidates.

February-March – Short list. The Committee assesses the candidates' work and prepares a short list.

March-August – Adviser review. The short list is reviewed by permanent advisers and advisers specially recruited for their knowledge of specific candidates. The advisers do not directly evaluate nominations nor give explicit recommendations.

October – Nobel Laureates are chosen. At the beginning of October, the Nobel Committee chooses the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates through a majority vote. The decision is final and without appeal. The names of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates are then announced.

December – Nobel Laureates receive their prize. The Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony takes place on 10 December in Oslo, Norway, where the Nobel Laureates receive their Nobel Prize, which consists of a Nobel Medal and Diploma, and a document confirming the prize amount.
Are the nominations made public?

The statutes of the Nobel Foundation restrict disclosure of information about the nominations, whether publicly or privately, for 50 years. The restriction concerns the nominees and nominators, as well as investigations and opinions related to the award of a prize.




- Indian Journalist.